The night before - - cut the crusts off challah.- in a large bowl beat together 7 eggs, 2.5 cups of milk and 1.5 teaspoons of vanilla.- cut the challah into approximately 1 inch cubes and put them in the milk/egg mixture and make sure all of the cubes are covered.

Day of - - grease a pyrex dish. - pour in the bread with the mixture and spread it out evenly.- put 1/2 a cup of butter, 1 cup brown sugar and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup into a glass bowl and microwave. Start with one minute, check it and put it in a bit longer. If it's not completely melted try stirring it and it will all melt together but it needs a lot of stirring.- pour butter mixture all over the top of the bread. Try to cover all the pieces of bread. - bake for 40 minutes at 350 (done when you push in the middle and it springs back up)

Maple Glazed Bacon -

Lay bacon strips on a cooling rack. Lightly brush bacon with maple syrup. Put the rack on a baking sheet lined with tinfoil. Put the bacon in the oven at the same time as the french toast but keep an eye on it. After about 25 - 30 minutes take the bacon out. It'll be nice and crispy.

Fruit Salad -
Buy whatever fruit you want to put in it. I usually use raspberries, blueberries and strawberries. Rinse fruit, put it in a bowl, sprinkle sugar over it, mix and serve on top of french toast.

In memory of Helen Kirzner, who shared the french toast recipe with my mom about 10 years ago and we have been making it ever since.